Spooky Plays for Halloween!

Let your spooky-side take center stage this October with some of the scarier scripts PNA offers! Click on each title for complete details about each script.

Bunnicula 

children’s book series written by Deborah Howe and James Howe

A dancing cat, a howling dog, and a vampire bunny. The perfect pet combination for any family. It’s a dark and stormy night and Chester (the family cat) and Harold (the family dog) sit waiting for their owners to return home from the movies. Chester and Harold are more than just pets, they’re good friends too. When the Monroes finally get home, they come bearing a surprise: they’ve found a bunny in the movie theater. But this is no ordinary rabbit… this is the extraordinary Bunnicula. When the family’s produce starts losing its juice, Chester thinks he knows what’s causing the fantastic phenomenon. Bunnicula is a vampire! Or maybe Chester’s imagination is getting the better of him. Singing and dancing their way through this hilarious mystery, the furry friends find room in their hearts, and in their home, for one very unique bunny.

 

Harriet’s Halloween Candy 

From the book by Nancy Carlson

Harriet loves Halloween. She loves dressing up; she loves hanging out with her friends; and she loves getting all that delicious, gooey, chewy, chocolaty sweet candy. What she does not love is having to share with her baby brother, Walter, even when her parents make her. Once back from her trick-or-treating, the very important sorting process begins. In theory, this is when Harriet will decide which of her treasures she will bestow on her brother. Licorice whips? Nougat bars? Marshmallow puffs? Tangy tarts? Chocolate drops? No!! They’re all too good to share. And they’re all hers. To keep her stash safe, Harriet tries hiding it, but what will she do when she has to go to school? Why, take it with her, of course. When her friends find out she’s been hoarding all the goodies for herself, they turn their backs on her selfish ways. Her obsession has landed her in a sticky mess. But with the help of her mother, Harriet proves that she knows nothing is sweeter than a true friend.

Dracula: Origins 

From the Seattle Children’s Theatre Drama School Summer Season. Photo by Chris Bennion.

Vlad, a prince of Transylvania, struggles to keep his poor, mountainous land free from the clutches of Bazajet, the cruel and conniving Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. When Vlad’s father, Drac (the Dragon) dies fighting in battle, Vlad becomes ruler of Transylvania. He is now known as Dracula (son of the dragon). Due to the clever intrigues of the Turkish Sultan, Vlad finds himself forced to accept single combat with Kudret ad-Hem, the great Turkish warrior who killed his father. Knowing he cannot defeat Kudret, he persuades his wife, Mircea, to lead him to a cave of witches. The witches grant him strength, supernatural abilities, and freedom from death, by transforming him into a nosferatu, an undead vampire. Armed with his newfound power, Vlad meets Kudret ad-Hem in combat. After Vlad wounds Kudret, his vampiric thirst for blood overpowers him and he bites open Kudret’s throat to drink his blood. Both Turks and Transylvanians flee in terror. Mircea rejects Vlad as a monster, and falls to her death when he tries to embrace her. As the play ends, Dracula is left isolated in the Transylvanian mountains, facing a lonely immortality, and the witches celebrate the evil they have let loose into the world.

The Monster Under the Bed 

Polka Theatre’s 2009 production of The Monster Under the Bed.

Ben has a BIG problem. His Mum is acting grumpy, his best friend Vince has stolen his precious binoculars and his Dad is far, far away…oh, and there’s a monster under the bed. But when Ben Swaps places with the under-bed monster, Ben’s life — and his school — is turned inside out, and upside down. A funny and thrilling play for children about friendship and facing up to your fears.

 

The Canterville Ghost 

For three centuries, the Canterville Ghost has been perfectly happy rattling chains, clanking armor and generally haunting Canterville. Enter the Otis family – Yankee upstarts with thoroughly modern ideas. Frightening these nonplussed American tenants proves to be not only infuriating but almost impossible for the temperamental British ghost. Yet, through the courageous friendship of one of the young Otis children, the Canterville Ghost finally finds peace. Oscar Wilde’s tale is told with whimsical humor and charm.

 

A Murder of Crows

Inspired by the story of Hansel and Gretel, A Murder of Crows explores the themes of famine, family loyalties and survival. Six actors weave a gothic story of the journey of two children navigating fear and abandonment, from the squawking perspective of a group of boisterous crows.


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